Brands

Brands

Can electric bikes replace cars?

Posted by Naomi
on
May 20, 2016

With traffic increasing and air quality decreasing
across cities worldwide, many transportation experts are saying that electric bikes
(along with electric cars, light rail trains and more pedestrian friendly
cities) could become a primary driver of cleaner air, fitter aging populations
and reduced greenhouse emissions.

Many people still believe that they shouldn’t ride
an electric bike while they are still healthy and strong enough to ride a
traditional bicycle - despite only using it once or twice a month. The thing
with electric bikes is, once you ride one and see how much fun it is, you’ll
ride it everywhere – and all those short trips you used to take in the car, are
now taken by ebike - helping the environment and your health, along with your
hip pocket.

There’s also a growing number of the population that
do not have a great level of fitness or are battling injuries and therefore a
traditional bike isn’t an option.

Electric bikes have solved the mobility problem for
millions of people around the world – and are just beginning to grow in numbers
here in Australia.

In
China alone, more than 100 million e-bikes have been sold over the past decade,
accounting for "the single largest adoption of alternative fuel vehicles
in history" said Christopher Cherry, a University of Tennessee engineering
professor and leading scholar on e-bikes.

E-bikes
are more climate friendly than other modes of transport – such as petrol or
diesel powered cars and buses, and even electric vehicles – and they are light
and inexpensive in comparison as well.

Many
studies show that carbon dioxide emissions for an electric bike are about 1/10
of what is emitted by a conventional electric car – even when factoring in the
electricity source needed to power the car’s larger batteries.

Think
about this:
in 2011 the European Cyclists’ Federation found that when comparing electric
bikes to cars, the bikes emitted just 8.1% per passenger, per kilometre, of CO2
that a car does. And that can really make a measurable impact on the
environment. And a study from Transportation Alternatives in the US found that
if 10% of New York City commuters biked to work just once a week instead of
driving or taking public transport, they could cut back on 120 million pounds
of CO2 emissions per year—the same amount of CO2 released
by 25,000 New York homes per year.

In
the US, e-bikes have captured a niche of the larger bicycle industry, and that
percentage is growing every year. When petrol prices have increased in the US, e-bike
sales also increase.

Many
cities - Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth among others and their populations are seeking
more convenient ways to get around the city streets and to avoid the costs (and
hassles) of parking or toll roads.

More
Savings
In Australia, riding an e-bike doesn’t require a special license, registration,
or insurance. So you can see that investment and operating costs are almost
nothing compared to a car…and Dyson e-bike prices start at just $1999. Compared
to tolls, petrol, car registration and insurance, parking fees, and tickets,
you’ll come out on top every time.

One of our customers wrote: “My Hard Tail has paid for itself with zero tram
fares, parking, petrol, traffic fines, parking, wear and tear on my car etc...and
I save a heap of travel time and feel so superior passing 100’s of traffic
jammed cars on my trips into the city.”